Modern aircraft include complex fuel systems that route aviation fuel from fuel tanks to aircraft systems that use the fuel. These aircraft systems can include the primary engines and/or auxiliary power units (APUs). In the case of an aerial refueling tanker and/or receiver aircraft, these systems can also include the fluid conduits (e.g., fuel lines), manifolds, and associated valving necessary for delivering fuel to a receiver aircraft and/or receiving fuel in-flight from a tanker aircraft. In some cases, the fuel lines may pass through “ignition zones,” which are typically pressurized compartments in the aircraft (e.g., baggage compartments) that may also house electrical devices.
One concern with this arrangement is that the fuel passing through the fluid conduits imparts substantial loads (e.g., surge loads and pressure loads) on the fluid conduits. Accordingly, in many cases support members are attached to various portions of the fluid conduits to distribute and/or transfer the imposed loads to appropriate reaction locations of the aircraft. The support members are generally attached to corresponding fluid conduits with one or more fittings. Many conventional fittings, however, cannot withstand the imposed loads.
Another concern with the above-described arrangement is that the support members generally include suitable tolerances to compensate for the manufacturing tolerances between the various components. Most conventional fittings, however, are not configured to compensate for the various manufacturing tolerances between the different components and, accordingly, a number of different support members and/or fittings have to be manufactured for particular installations. Accordingly, there is a need for fittings configured to withstand the imposed loads while keeping the attached support members in place with respect to the fluid conduits.